The 18th of the 3-set fall '80 shows has been perhaps the hardest to grapple with, in part because it's AUD-only. As the first night in the hallowed Radio City it was the strictest on tapers, who recorded with various stealth methods. Several were busted, but over the following nights the more intrepid tapers quickly adapted. The results are much more listenable now that we can get so close to the master. It's the lesser show of the NYC run - if not all of 3sF80 - and the only one of the 8 RCMH shows without material released. The date was added after the initial sellout; squeezed-in from the New Orleans schedule. It does have a phenomenal setlist, including one of only five China>Rider>Scar>Fires.

This was the night that the equipment came late from New Orleans, delaying the start. But that wasn't what had the building owners/management tearing out their hair. They filed a lawsuit against the commemorative poster being sold (the familiar one with the giant skeletons standing next to RCMH). The original had been created by Bill Graham's Organization for the Warfield portion of the shows. Scher then had it recreated for the shows at Radio City. Not clued-in to the band iconography, the Rockefeller Corp ordered a stop-sale. As a defense, they cited their right to clear use of the venue appearance, stating that the image implied the "Death of Radio City". Actually, the first thing they did was try to cancel the 8 shows, at a financial loss. They then ordered all posters destroyed. Some were, but clearly most weren't and they remain among the most cherished. Knowing this, Rockefeller sued for $1.2 mill, with a list of grievances including the "reputation damage" caused by the Franken & Davis skits on Halloween (one had Al made up as Kissinger - a Rockefeller friend). The Dead won what they wanted - the right to air the Showtime special - but were enjoined from using the poster artwork on any of the 4 products that were released (the two albums & two vids - it did eventually appear on the menu for the Dead Ahead DVD). Additional legal troubles followed the "remodel": when a mixing console couldn't be moved up a staircase, the crew knocked out a wall (this is an Art Deco building with NRHP-protected status). The multitrack still wasn't set up in time for this show.

First Set. John Scher warns people to be cool, then off they go. The acoustic set is solid enough, but not like they would deliver on the ensuing nights. Bird Song is interesting, and note how the New York tapers were not yet aware of the quick seg into Ripple.

Second Set. The energy of the Warfield hasn't returned yet. Friend of the Devil is glacial. The next couple are good, but the pace grinds down again in Peggy-O. These are tight enough, but not X factor. Minglewood (T for New York City) and the last two have some bright moments but also some struggling. It's still GOGD.

Third Set. Scarlet kicks off a continuous set. It gets better, building to a Fire with serious stolen faces. An era best - maybe surpassing 12/30/79 & 10/14/80. Sailor>Saint is super tight, but no extras. On the back nine the bogging-down returns. Not Fade is slow with loose, approximate drums. After an almost-full-stop, Goin' Down the Road is uptempo-to-the-rescue. The encore has plenty to leave 'em happy as they spill onto 6th Ave. Jer was mixed low this whole show

1st Set:  C
2nd Set: C
3rd Set:  C+
Overall = 2¾ stars

Highlights:
Scarlet Begonia>Fire on the Mountain - the latter is serious stolen faces

SOURCES: The morris_101778 is probably handheld, made for the taper's personal consumption. Yet, given the circumstances, it is the best source for the 1st and 3rd sets. It has best presence - and you can hear Phil. It does have people singing along, and convos, and is missing 4: 38 of Drums. It runs a tad fast and needs -1% pitch correction. The sony_wiley_8479 gives you more to work with if you want to re-balance and EQ, whereas the wise_miller_100416 is prêt-à-porter, and is the best version of the second set. It has the complete Drums, plus the beginning of US Blues (without the tapers singing along). The gatto-jaeger_dusborne is half the Dead/half the people next to you.

Oh my god! LIsten to this particular version of this great show. The intrepid taper, despite his bonehead friends, (sorry, bonehead friends, if you are reading this. I hope you are not offended and I'd have to bet you'd agree, after some reflection throughout these years, that all of your advice for the taper throughout the show, ("hit pause until Jerry comes back on"), was comically bad advice. When you listen to this show, you will find yourself arguing with the friends as if you were there. And that's the great thing about this recording: it has presence. (Again to the taper's friends: I salute you for whatever role you played in smuggling the gear in to this allegedly more heavily policed show environment than usual, (due to the Dead's goal of recording an album).

This is one of the all-time great shows and an uncharacteristically incredible recording for a tour blessed with many partial, (mostly acoustic sets) soundboards and at least one serious lull, (in the middle of the Warfield run) of harsh but listenable Nak recordings. (Again, no offense to the intrepid tapers of those shows.)

What a difference 3000 miles makes! If you listen to the Warfield run in order, you get lulled into this feeling that you're at the neighborhood bar listening to your favorite local originals/covers band. (My favorite, next to 1980 Grateful Dead is the Ray Mason Band of Northampton Massachusetts.) But then through the prism of New Orleans (at least listen to the Truckin' from that run), they arrive in New York where everyone knows what songs they played in California and was going to sing/shout along with all of them!

Woooooo!!! Jerrreee!!!! You're all in the middle of it with this recording. For a while, the taper keeps the mics low. (Again, I think the friends are mostly responsible for this. In their defense, they must have been the lookouts and by the sounds of it, tapers were getting busted.) The friends recognize China Cat Sunflower, (in the "first" set no less) as being of particular importance, so they urge him to raise the mics slightly. He does and suddenly you are awash in the speaker stacks bouncing Grateful Dead at their prime off the balconies of RCMH. Carter is still president; John Lennon is still alive and suggests he may tour.

Taper stays ballsy for the final set and keeps the mics up. Second set is much heavier in terms of "big" songs than most of these three set shows, (especially if you count China/Rider, which of course, is from the first electric set, which was actually a more common placement for this-at the time-somewhat rare song-in 1980. Two more big combos follow, (the St. of Circumstance has a late 80's confidence to it several years early. Not tentative at all. Inventive, confident Grateful Dead that, by the post-drums, is rocking hard. Mr. Dwork in Taper's Compendium complains that NFA is too slow. There are far slower ones from 78-79. Bobby is all over that and GDTRFB. Absolutely perfect U.S. Blues.

This show provides a great juxtaposition with the previous one, the valedictory show at the Warfield. The former is a steady, introspective consideration of the Grateful Dead's poetry and artistic life and a "thank you" to a loyal, local following. The next show is a rousing welcome to the future of the Grateful Dead. The next spring would see the beginning of a campaign to turn on the east coast, particularly the north east with an almost seasonal opportunity to dose and go see the Dead within a 100 mile radius of your house. The popularity of the GD in the 1980's would largely be based on the ability of the shows and performances-both by the performers themselves and by their audience-to go completely over the top. This show, more than the final show at the Warfield, exemplifies the way forward.

A note about the quality: yes, you can hear the friends talk occasionally, but when they do, it's actually pretty cool. Otherwise, crowd does not get in the way and the sound quality is quite good throughout with improvement during China Cat due to the mics being raised slightly. It's not like the mics are in his shirt though. Sound is clear throughout and, more significantly, there's a great "room" presence to the recording.